The business of jelly, socks and stainless steel

A jumbo edition featuring a driver by day and TikTok star by night, Italian workwear, Supreme's only pro female skateboarder, matcha and lots more.

10 November 2023 View online  /  Sign up A jumbo edition – featuring a driver by day and TikTok star by night, Italian workwear, an interview with Supreme's first and so far only pro female skateboarder, matcha, socks, stainless steel and the increasingly stable business of jelly – so let's get straight into it. 01. Dry-aged sushi, anyone? Meet the LA-based fishmonger who says 'fresh is boring'. 🍣 02. Or how about these incredibly weird Japanese candles from Risa Makabe?  03. 🇳🇬 From Nelson Charity John, our eyes and ears in Lagos:  'Here are five people to know in the creative sectors: Grace Ladoja (fashion). Reni Folawiyo (fashion and design). Tokini Peterside (art), Vincent Desmond (writer), Odun Eweniyi (tech).'  04. It's coming up to one year in business for the amazing (and very small) bakery From Lucie in New York City. Congratulations. 05. Ditto Parkside Coffee, a hole-in-the-wall in Perth, Australia, from local baristas Alex Lowes and Jacob Chapman. ☕️ 06. 'Why everyone is obsessed with matcha' reads like a headline from five years ago. Yet new matcha brands keep coming and coming – spend a few minutes searching for them online and hundreds show up. To stand out, the product has to be great and a good origin story doesn't harm. Rocky's Matcha ticks both boxes. The path to Rocky Xu launching a matcha brand begins with a visit to a shaman. After putting him on a chakra cleanse, the shaman shared one last piece of advice for Rocky – stop drinking coffee – and his search for an alternative source of caffeine began. (You can figure out the rest.) Today, he runs the brand outside of his day job. His 'traveling tea house' collabs with brands such as Jon + Vinny's and serves matcha (sourced from fifth-generation producer Kyoharu Tsuji) at events hosted by the likes of Rimowa and District Vision. 'Doing the pop ups in places where I have a network has made it easier in terms of getting the brand out there,' Rocky tells us. 'I think because I don't have the pressures of a brick and mortar location yet, I'm able to focus on one product and do it really well.' 07. Rocky also tells us about some of his favorite brands right now:  'Over the past few years I've been taking better care of my body, whether it be exercise or diet, and Made Of is the best protein on the market. I like it in my morning smoothie as a post-workout treat.'  'My friends at Ghetto Gastro recently launched toaster pastries. They're super tasty and perfect for my "cheat days".' 'Opening in November in LA, Suá Superette will become my go-to destination for everything kitchen-related. (It helps that it'll be carrying some of my products!)'  'I see my acupuncturist, Dr Stolberg, once every two to three weeks. Recently, she recommended her rest and digest tea and now I drink it in the evenings after dinner. It's helped a ton with bloating and indigestion.' 08. Turning food into art has never been more popular and jelly is the next niche opportunity. Here we dig into the increasingly stable business of jelly and the otherworldly creations of Murder Cake. 🪼 09. Some really nicely designed Italian workwear right here. 10. Another Italian brand, this time making fun and colorful coffee tables and stools from recycled plastic. 11. An example of a simple business model perfectly executed, with a clear audience in mind: the contemporary art print store DROOL.  12. A few years ago, we interviewed Jenni Lee as she was just launching her luxury socks brand Comme Si. Now she's opening the brand's first ever pop-up store in Brooklyn – and it's a thing of beauty.  13. Another sock brand elevating a product that 'doesn't usually get center stage'. This one is called SOCKSSS (tell it like it is, etc) and is based in Sweden. 14. (Okay, our final dispatch from the world of socks 🧦.) Would you quit your job to make socks? Ed Vickers has done just that. He's the founder of SUMS, a running sock brand that's just about to launch. We asked him why now? 'There are a few insights on the incredible growth of running participation in the UK over the last few years – particularly, demand on marathon applications, the rise in run crew culture and Strava user growth over and post lockdowns,' he tells us. 'Running socks remain the forgotten, unsung hero of running kit. Just ask any runner who has had an intense 16-week training block derailed by a blister on marathon day.'  15. 🤳A case of 4D chess. Check out this driver by day and TikTok star by night. 'If driving wasn't my source for TikTok videos, I wouldn't drive.' 16. Jarrad Carlin is a skater branching out into different fields – he's a photographer and sells his own zines documenting the skate community. 17. Beatrice Domond is Supreme's first – and so far only – female pro skateboarder. We met up with her at a rectangle of asphalt in Tompkins Square Park – her favorite place to skate and a legendary spot in her circles  – to find out how she's been carving her own unique path at the intersection of style and skating. Read the exclusive interview here. 18. Sticking with the nuts and bolts of building a successful career, these two series recently caught our eye: Refinery 29's Money Diaries and Eater's 'How I Got My Job'. 🔩 19. 'Jack Harlow has apparently released a water brand, and I can't tell if it's an April Fool's joke.' From taking shots at bad branding, dissecting advertising faux pas, and praising the genius of certain design choices, Ashwinn is a content creator and the founder of Forge, an agency specializing in branding and positioning. He's grown big TikTok and Instagram followings for not holding back with his opinions surrounding what companies are doing right or (mostly) wrong. Here are his quick takes:  Worst corporate branding? 'Taco Bell.' Branding pet peeves? 'Minimalism without strategy. Reducing character to cut costs.' Brand doing everything well right now? 'Liquid Death.' Biggest rebrand fail you've ever seen? 'Gap.' What makes a good rebrand? 'For iconic brands, a deep knowledge of brand history, customers and purpose.' One book to read for anyone doing creative work? 'Werner Herzog's A Guide For the Perplexed.' What brand has the best copy? 'Liquid Death x 2. Frida is also great.' Favorite product right now? 'Peloton. Unpopular, I know.' The ad that lives for free in your mind? 'The Avis "We're no. 2!" print ads from the 1960s.' 20. Stainless steel is coming for your living room. Danish influencer Naomi Anwer is working with a blacksmith on Steel Junkie, a new line of steel tables, while Korean design studio Tudes produces shelving units, spiral toothbrush holders and other products in small batches. 21. In Seoul, Kwangho Lee makes amazing woven furniture using rope – hence all the impressive brand collabs he's been racking up. 🪢 22. Cactus Store Collective seemingly does it all. The 'botanically-minded creative studio' in LA started by three friends aims to 'bridge the gap between humans and plants' by selling rare plants, making merch, landscaping – and apparently even working on a nature show with A24.  23. Meet the model / 'poster boy for biodynamic British flowers' – Alfie Nickerson, the 28-year-old founder of Burnt Fen Flowers. 💐 24. Manny Lorras is a marketing exec at the NBA who stumbled into the vast and nerdy world of houseplants after his mom's death left him with all of her rare plants. Now he's the co-founder of MonsteraX: 'the eBay of rare and variegated plants'. We love it but beware – some of his plants are insanely expensive.  More from us (and elsewhere) ⌨️ The world's last internet cafes.  🇯🇵 Popeye Magazine's 'book club magazine tote bag'. 🧀 Why fashion logos are cheesy. 🤳 Is the golden age of posting over?  Advertise with us Drop us a line any time at hello@couriermedia.com. Update your preferences here. Unsubscribe here